


text me

by yeet (excusemebitch)



Series: cafe and idol boy [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fluffish, Idol!AU, M/M, Seungsung, a mixture of both, angstish, but enjoy, cafe!AU, hyunlixxxxxx, idk where this is gonna go tbh, seungjin/hyunmin, seungsung and hyunjin r purely platonic, topped off’s sequel :), univeristy!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-09-29 17:10:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17207501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/excusemebitch/pseuds/yeet
Summary: kim seungmin doesn’t expect a response from the famous idol, hwang hyunjin, after giving him his phone numbertopped off’s sequel





	text me

**Author's Note:**

> SINCE YALL ASKED FOR A SEQUEL, HERE IT IS
> 
> if you haven’t read topped off, u rlly don’t have to. it will make the flow easier if u did, but reading this alone will still make sense.
> 
> y’all i just checked the word count aND IT’S 14218?? WHEN???

seungmin sat by the counter, head in his hands. he tried to cover up his red face but failed miserably when he heard the door jingle open. “little brother! why are you so red?” he heard a warm voice call out. a deep chuckle followed. seungmin lifted his head up to see who the new customers were, but put it back down with a groan when he saw his older brother and his older brother’s boyfriend.

although he loved the two to death, he really did not need them to see this embarrassing state he was put in over an idol who he knew he would never have a chance with. to be honest, he really did not need anyone to see him like this. he quietly excused himself from the counter and went into the ‘faculty only’ section. 

“renjun! can you take over for me? i’m gonna take a break for a little bit,” he called out when he saw the said boy entering from the back entry. renjun flashed him a sweet smile and nodded, shrugging off his coat. seungmin gave him a quick hug and left the building as quick as he could. 

“minnie! don’t forget your coat!” he heard renjun call out just as he walked out the door. he turned on his heel and snatched his coat from where it was hanging and marched back out. 

the cold air stung his ears and he wished that he brought earmuffs or a beanie with him. he stuffed his freezing hands in his pockets and walked briskly against the wind. he had no clue where he was going, he just needed a break from the cafe where he had been working in every single day. 

finally, he stumbled across a small playground. ignoring all the curious looks from the little kids, he sat down on the largest swing and gently pushed off from the ground. he plugged in his earbuds and it gave him a sense of nostalgia as he remembered the times when he was much younger and would come out to playgrounds like this to clear his head; especially after the times wonpil and his mom would fight over who was more capable of supporting seungmin. 

from a young age, his father had passed away from a construction accident and his mother had become an alcoholic. wonpil  being five years older, got a job as a part time dj and found that he got decently paid. soon enough, he had enough to support himself and seungmin on his own. 

once wonpil turned 18 and got accepted into a college in busan, he recieved legal custody over the 13 year old seungmin and whisked him off to busan. ever since, seungmin had lived with wonpil until it was time for him to go to college and he returned to his birth place, seoul. wonpil didn’t want to be alone and moved in with his boyfriend, dowoon who also lived in seoul. it was as if seungmin never got a break from his older brother. but it’s ok, he had a lot to thank wonpil for.  

seungmin felt a little tug on his coat then looked down to see a little boy saying something. he took out his earbuds and smiled when he heard the little boy ask, “hey mister, can i use the swing now?”

”sure kiddo, go for it,” seungmin responded and jumped off. usually, seungmin would be embarrassed by this type of situation, but for once, he felt refreshed. he checked the time on his phone and started running when he saw how much time had already passed. an hour and a half had passed and his boss would not consider it a ‘little break’. 

_shit shit shit renjun’s probably getting impatient, i better get going. jeez how was i on that swing for an hour and a half?!_

seungmin stumbled through the back door and flung his coat across the room. swinging the door that led to the cashier desk, he grabbed his apron and quickly tied it together. he tripped into renjun, but luckily, the older boy caught him before he could flat out fall on his face. “whoa, chill minnie. you’re all good,” renjun laughed. 

seungmin heard unfamiliar laughing and inwardly groaned. hesitantly looking up, he saw a tall and foreign looking boy. seungmin awkwardly laughed while fixing his apron. “uh haha, um hi... i guess?” 

renjun joined in on the laughter and lightly pushed seungmin’s shoulder. “this is yangyang. he’s my... friend.” renjun explained and seungmin caught the blush that crept over renjun’s cheeks. 

“uh huh, friend. you get going now renjun. sorry for making you wait,” seungmin said while ruffling the smaller’s hair. renjun rolled his eyes playfully and gave seungmin a small salute. seungmin heard yangyang say something in chinese which he did not understand so he awkwardly laughed once again and watched yangyang and renjun walk out the door. 

renjun and seungmin met eyes through the cafe window and seungmin gave him a small wave. with a sigh, he laid his head down on the counter and closed his eyes.

_and i’m back to the start._

***

“um, excuse me?” 

seungmin woke up with a startle and snapped his head up to see Stray Kids’ leader, bang chan. the younger bowed and apologized repeatedly for falling asleep. chan placed his hands on seungmin’s shoulder and said, “hey hey, don’t worry. you’re only a university student who can take so much after all. maybe it’s time for you to close up the cafe and go home.” 

“but chan ssi, you still need to get your order! and the cafe is technically open for another hour. speaking of which, where the hell is sunwoo?” seungmin quickly whipped out his phone and saw two messages from sunwoo from over two hours ago. 

_**kim sunwoo (usual night shift worker):** hey seungmin! super sorry for late notice but i won’t be able to come to work today. _

_**kim sunwoo (usual night shift worker):** i talked to boss and he said u can close up the cafe early _

seungmin groaned at his pathetic mistake of falling asleep and not seeing the messages earlier. he could’ve gone home and spent a nice and relaxing night watching netflix and eating junk food. something he had not been able to do ever since break started. how ironic. 

he remembered that he still had a customer waiting and looked up with a gasp. “oh my gosh, i’m so sorry for ignoring you, chan ssi. what would you like to order?” chan gave him a warm laugh and shook his head. 

“chill, seungmin ssi, it’s alright. please, just call me ‘hyung’. and i’ll just order two regular sized peppermint mochas please.”

seungmin raised an eyebrow at the small order and said, “only two?”

chan laughed once more and said, “yep! it’s only for me and woojinie!” seungmin let out a small “ah”. 

“that will be 7,000 won (approximately $6.30ish in usd).”

after chan paid, seungmin went to make the drinks so chan wouldn’t have to wait any longer. he already felt bad enough for making him wake him up, then wait for seungmin to finish checking his messages. yikes. when he handed the drinks to chan, he wanted to slap himself for saying “you won’t tell this to hyunjin, will you hyung?” chan let out a loud laugh and when he sobered back up, he said, “if you don’t want me to, i won’t!”

”oh thank god,” seungmin breathed out and chan laughed again. “see ya, seungmin!” chan called over his shoulder and left. 

“well, i should probably close up now!” seungmin told himself and started to clean the machines and tables. seungmin was in the midst of cleaning the floor with a good-old-fashioned broom when he received a text from someone. he pulled out his phone and raised an eyebrow at the sender. “unknown number?”

 **_unknown number:_ ** _hey, this is kim seungmin’s phone number, right?_

 **_me:_ ** _um yes, but who are you?_

 **_unknown number:_ ** _oh good! i’m hyunjin :)_

 **_me:_ ** _what_

 **_me:_ ** _really_

 **_unknown number:_ ** _yes! this is your one and only, hwang hyunjin_

 **_kim seungmin:_ ** _send me a pic of urself that has never been released online_

 **_unknown number:_ **[image attatched]

 **_me:_ ** _oh god, it is you_

 _you have changed_ **_unknown number_ ** _to_ **_hyunjin_ **

**_hyunjin:_ ** _r u still at the cafe_

 **_me:_ ** _yep, just cleaning up_

 **_hyunjin:_ ** _should i go and pick you up?_

 **_me:_ ** _would you really?_

 **_hyunjin:_ ** _you wanna bet_

 **_me:_ ** _no, i’m broke_

 **_me:_ ** _and ur a successful idol who has a crap ton of money_

 **_me:_ ** _¯\\_(ツ)_/¯_

 **_hyunjin:_ ** _what’s ur fav drink? from topped off?_

 **_me:_ ** _all of a sudden? well, idc maybe a mocha_

 **_hyunjin:_ ** _gotcha_

 **_me:_ ** _why?_

 **_me:_ ** _hyunjin?_

 **_me:_ ** _hello? why aren’t u answering me_

_delivered_

****“goddamnit hwang hyunjin, you’re worrying me!” seungmin exclaimed biting his lip when he saw the “delievered” sign.

“aw, you were worrying about me?” seungmin let out out a small squeal when he heard hyunjin’s voice. hyunjin walked over and said, “i want to buy a regular sized mocha please.”

seungmin knew where hyunjin was going with this, so he straight up said, “no.” hyunjin gave a little whine but seungmin was very firm with his choice. “i know where you’re going with this. i’m not letting you buy me a drink.”

”but whyyyyy! you did a good thing for me so can’t i do you a favor too?”

seungmin still said no and proceeded to put away the broom and put on his coat. hyunjin kept on whining but seungmin interrupted him by saying, “come on, i’m closing up so let’s settle this outside.” all the way out of the cafe, hyunjin continued to whine. seungmin finally got tired of his whining so he said, “fine! if it makes you feel better, you can walk me home!” hyunjin immediately stopped whining and took seungmin’s bare hand in his gloved one. 

“yeesh seungmin, your hands must be cold! here, have my other glove!” seungmin tried to protest but hyunjin still slipped it on then intertwined their hands again. this shut seungmin up and the two walked to seungmin’s apartment, hand in hand. 

_click_

“i got the pictures, boss.”

___

”minnie! seungminnie! kim seungmin! i swear to god, kim seungmin!” wonpil screamed in seungmin’s ear while jumping on seungmin’s sleeping form. 

“what!” seungmin exclaimed and pushed his older brother off of him. “and how the hell did you even get into my apartment?” 

wonpil ignored seungmin’s question and held up his phone, showing a picture that made his stomach churn. right on the phone screen was a picture of hyunjin and seungmin holding hands from last night. and the picture had spread all over the internet over a short amount of time. 

seungmin immediately grabbed his phone and turned it on to be flooded with many messages from renjun, wonpil, dowoon, chenle, jaemin, sunwoo, and of course, hyunjin. ignoring all the other messages, he opened hyunjin’s messages. 

_**hyunjin:** meet me at 11:30 at topped off_

_**hyunjin:** make sure to wear a hat and mask to cover yourself up_

_**hyunjin:** whatever it is, don’t go in public by yourself. please, it’s for your safety _

seungmin checked the time and let out a frustrated sigh when he saw he had only 30 minutes left to get ready and go to the cafe. as he made his way to the bathroom, he called out to wonpil, “hyung! can you take me to topped off?”

***

seungmin’s anxiety kicked up when he saw the cameras pointed at his face. even though he listened to hyunjin’s advice and covered up his face with a mask and a hat and took wonpil with him, the paparazzi still found out that the boy in the photo was him and tracked him down. he had never seen wonpil so mad. his older brother was covering him up as best as he could and shoving away the people who got too close to them. he kept on screaming, “leave my younger brother alone! please leave!” 

seungmin felt tremendous guilt when he saw the tears welling up in wonpil’s eyes. he knew how protective wonpil could be over him, especially after their hard childhood. “hyung, let’s just go to Topped Off. please,” he whispered to wonpil. although it was very loud, wonpil still heard him and took seungmin’s hand. the two ran all the way to the small cafe, never stopping. 

they were surprised to see dowoon standing worriedly in front of Topped Off but didn’t question it. without a word, wonpil let go of seungmin’s hand and fell into dowoon’s arms. “shhhh, wonpil, it’s alright. everything will be ok,” dowoon mumbled into wonpil’s hair. seungmin gave him a grateful nod and dowoon pointed to the inside of the cafe to show that hyunjin was already in the building. 

seungmin quickly walked in and locked the door for the sake of their safety. without trying to find hyunjin somewhere in the small cafe, he pulled down the blinds so no one could look into their chat. when he made sure that they had absolute privacy, he let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding in and leaned his head against the covered window. 

“seungmin?” 

seungmin turned around at his name and saw hyunjin looking at him with concern. hyunjin ran up to him and gently pulled down seungmin’s mask to make sure it was actually him. when he knew that seungmin was in front of him, he pulled the younger in his arms. 

the hug was so warm to seungmin and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around hyunjin’s waist, but when he did, he melted into the embrace and tears sprang to his eyes. a tear dropped down his cheek when he heard hyunjin whisper, “i’m sorry. i’m so sorry for putting you through this. i wish it wasn’t you. you don’t deserve this. will you forgive me?” 

seungmin nodded silently and tightened his grip on hyunjin. “seungmin. i need to tell you something,” hyunjin said gravely. seungmin didn’t like the tone of hyunjin’s voice but pulled away to look at hyunjin’s face properly. “i... i wish it didn’t have to be this way but i-i need you to be my boyfriend. j-just for a little bit, i promise.”

seungmin looked at him with disbelief and blinked multiple times. “i’m sorry, seungmin. this is the only way to save stray kids’ image-“ 

seungmin didn’t let him say anymore and pulled away. “oh. i see. it’s all just to protect your image, isn’t it?” seungmin turned around and started to walk to the back entry but stopped when he heard hyunjin call out, “don’t you care about your reputation?” seungmin felt a pang through his heart and he turned back around with fresh tears in his eyes. 

“i don’t care about my image. everyone knows me as the sad cafe boy anyway. but i guess reputation really matters to you ‘cause you’re this huge and amazing idol that everyone adores. a friendship with a normal university student would be something that you would never even _think_ to have. i’m just like everyone else, huh. i’m sick and tired of people playing with me. i’m not gonna be your ‘boyfriend’ just for your public image. don’t even think about it, hyunjin.”

hyunjin’s temper got the best of him and he yelled, “stop being selfish! i’m not only trying to save my image, but i’m trying to save my members’ image as well. and i wanted to keep you from harm from the public. you don’t know how harsh the people out there can be! you don’t know how bad the pain is when reality hits and you realize how many people could hate you! can’t you understand?” 

seungmin’s heart broke even more and he yelled back, “i do! i do know how much it hurts when reality hits that no one, _no one_ will ever love you. i know how much it hurts when you see the world turn their back on you. i’ve lived like that for nineteen years, hyunjin! and i thought for once that you might be the one to change my life. that you might be the one to actually love me! but i guess not.” 

by the end of his yelling, seungmin dropped to his knees and bowed his head. hyunjin opened his mouth but seungmin beat him to it. “i’m sorry for yelling at you. you have a good heart and i know that you want to help your members. i’ll help you. i’ll be your boyfriend.” hyunjin could visibly see that seungmin was shaking nonstop, but he wasn’t crying. 

“seungmin? i don’t want to force this on you,” hyunjin whispered, kneeling next to the fallen boy. seungmin stared blankly at the floor and just shook his head. “i’ll be alright, hyunjin. i’m always alright in the end.” hyunjin felt tears well up in his eyes when he saw seungmin give him a sad smile. 

***

seungmin fiddled with his hands as he sat next to hyunjin in front of hyunjin’s manager. his manager let out a sigh and stared at the released pictures of the two. “were you guys originally dating?”

”no sir,” the two boys said together. 

the manager sighed once again and moved his eyes to seungmin. “will you be willing to pretend to date hyunjin? if you don’t, it will make hyunjin seem like a playboy, and ultimately ruin Stray Kids’ image.” seungmin gave him a silent nod and stared down at his hands. he heard the manager let out a small “yes!” but inside, his consciousness way saying “no”.

before he knew it, he was sitting outside the room. hyunjin and his manager were talking privately about the restrictions. he didn’t even realize that someone had sat down next to him. he was startled when he felt a gentle hand lay on his thigh. he looked over and wasn’t even surprised to see one of hyunjin’s members sitting next to him. he gave jisung a small bow which the boy waved off. “don’t do that, it makes me feel weird.” jisung told him with a small laugh. seungmin tried to crack a small smile but failed when his lips started to quiver. 

jisung’s smile dropped and his face immediately showed concern. without a word, jisung pulled seungmin into a hug. seungmin didn’t even know this guy but immediately felt at ease. he sobbed into jisung’s shoulder and jisung brushed his hand through seungmin’s hair to calm him down. it must’ve worked as seungmin’s sobs turned into soft sniffles. 

“you don’t want to do this, do you?” jisung asked softly. seungmin didn’t hesitate to say, “you’re right, i don’t.”

jisung bit his lip to stop the anger. it was so clear that seungmin had gone through so much and yet, they forced him into a stupid relationship like this. seungmin could tell jisung was angry, so he grabbed the idol’s hand and softly said, “i just... i bet fans would die to be in a relationship with him, but it feels so fake. i just want to be his actual boyfriend, not a fake one. it’s weird to say this after only knowing him for a few weeks, but i fell in love with him so quickly.”

jisung listened to his every word and nodded once in a while. jisung pulled seungmin into a hug again and whispered, “if you need me, i’m only a call away.” seungmin let out a small noise of gratefulness. jisung gently took seungmin’s phone and entered in his phone number. seungmin kept his head on jisung’s shoulder until hyunjin slammed the door open. 

“seungmin? it’s your turn to go in,” hyunjin told him. he gulped when he was jisung sitting outside just about ready to punch him in the face.

***

”uh hello,” seungmin mumbled after sitting down in front of the manager. the manager’s smile seemed too forced. 

“hello seungmin. i called you in so i could go over some guidelines with you. whenever we need you during the day, you will be exempted from university. if you have any financial struggles, we will cover them. although this might make you dissatisfied, for your safety, you will be switching from your photography major to a performing arts major where hyunjin studies. we need you to be with him at all times. hyunjin’s bodyguard will become your bodyguard as well, and when you need to go places on your own, you will have your own bodyguard.

”you will be hyunjin’s boyfriend for six months. you will also move in with him during these months. please sign right here.”

seungmin felt so _unhappy_ , especially after he heard that he had to give up photography. it was his pride and joy. but if it was for hyunjin, then he would do it. with shaky hands, he quickly signed the document giving the company full consent. the manager snatched the pen and paper after he signed and shooed him out of the room right after. 

seungmin stumbled a bit as he opened the door and closed it quickly. without looking for any onlookers, he leaned his back against the closed door and slid down the floor. leaning his head back, he breathed out heavily and felt a tear drip down the side of his face and slide down his neck. 

hyunjin stared at him from afar, leaning against the wall. he mentally debated if he should go and help him or if he should leave. he started to feel scared and went with the second choice. he quietly left the building and went back to his apartment which he shared with felix. felix would be temporarily moving out of the apartment for seungmin, then would return when the contract with seungmin was over. 

on the way the apartment, his conversation with jisung plagued his mind. 

“ _how could you even do that to seungmin?”_

_”excuse me?”_

_”stop acting like you have no clue what i’m talking about. seungmin is hurting. he’s hurting a lot. so you better treat him well.”_

hyunjin swore under his breath and ran back all the way to the building. he was met with the sight of a shivering seungmin, waiting for someone to pick him up. “hey, uh, you wanna go to Topped Off and get something?” hyunjin offered.

seungmin gave him a cold smile and rejected him. “no thanks, i’m good.”

hyunjin insisted again and seungmin just didn’t get why hyunjin was doing this. his emotions got to him and he exclaimed, “no! i don’t want to go! please understand that!” his voice rang in the empty area of land and heavy silence filled the air. hyunjin forced out a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“one hour into the relationship and we’re already fighting.”

right then, a black car pulled up in front of the car and seungmin retorted, “yeah, well, this isn’t even a real relationship.” he then walked to the car and hurriedly got in. hyunjin saw wonpil give him a little wave, as if was saying, “hey thanks for taking care of my younger brother.” hyunjin wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. 

“so little bro, something bothering you?” wonpil asked after minutes of awkward silence. seungmin shook his head and whispered, “hyunjin and i are dating. i’m moving in to his place in two days.”

___

the next day was the last day of break, which seungmin would consider his first and only day of break. he spent the whole day binge watching marvel and studio ghibli. a weird combination, but when it comes to the mood seungmin was in, it was pure heaven. 

as the day was ending, seungmin started to dread what the next day would bring. all of a sudden, he remembered that he had to apply for his new major. “goddamnit,” he swore, padding his way to the kitchen in slippers. he put on his glasses and opened his laptop, logging into the college website. 

he scanned the performing arts majors and could not find something that satisfied him. he came across music composition and knew that it was what wonpil had majored in when he was in college. 

_meh, i know enough in this field. i’ll just go with this._

it wasn’t as if seungmin was a whole newbie to the field, he had some experience. he just wasn’t _good_ like he was at photography. seungmin clicked the submit button and tried to tell himself that after six months, he would be able to return to studying photography. 

 _you’re making a mistake, seungmin_ is the last thing he thought before he drifted to dreamland.

___

 _red light green light swag, bye or wassup man-_ “shut up!”

seungmin threw his phone across the room and for the nth time, regretted making N/S his alarm. groaning, he sat up and started to get ready for school. as he was brushing his teeth, he remembered everything from yesterday. he spit out his toothpaste and ran to the kitchen where his laptop was sitting from last night. he had to make sure that the college approved his choice to move to music composition. 

he was half glad half sad when he saw the email from his college, telling him that he was moved to the performing arts department and that he still had to choose his classes. “guess i should choose my goddamn classes,” seungmin mumbled to himself and went back to his room to change out of his pajamas to decent clothing.

he decided not to eat breakfast and that it would be easier to sign up at the main hall, get it over with, then go and eat. he grabbed his backpack and phone, quietly shutting the door behind him. it was still early morning and he would not want students complaining about him being loud. oh well, it didn’t even work as he let out a loud shout when he saw a stranger standing right in front of him. 

“gah! the fu- who are you?” seungmin yelled. he immediately threw his hand over his mouth and internally slapped himself for screaming. the boy in front of him seemed seungmin’s age but he still had no clue who he was. seungmin had a hunch that the boy was his new bodyguard, but he seemed too casual. 

“i’m your new bodyguard, park jisung.” the boy said without anyone emotion. _heh, i was right._

 _“_ you’re not allowed to go out on your own so i was assigned to you,” jisung explained.

”the hell, do you even go to our school?” seungmin asked.

“yes i do. i’m a year below you and study social sciences. i’m a part time student part time bodyguard. but i guess i’m full time both now since i’m assigned to you. before, i only had to leave school if Stray Kids were going to a major concert.” jisung explained as the two boys took the elevator down to the lobby. seungmin let out a small “ah” and wondered if he had ever seen the boy before. 

“oh wait! i’ve seen you before! you danced in the opening year showcase, didn’t you? why aren’t you an idol?” seungmin exclaimed. jisung laughed and explained that he had no intention of becoming an idol at such an early age but maybe later in his life. he only needed a source of income and applied for bodyguard as he had had enough physical training and experience. 

seungmin was slightly glad that jisung was accompanying him because he saw quite a few people turning the phones to take pictures of him. if he was all by himself, he would’ve been swamped by the sasaengs already. jisung quietly stood next to him the whole time while he was filling out the courses he wanted to take. 

jisung steered seungmin by the shoulders out of the building. “jisung? where are we going now?” seungmin questioned. 

“hyunjin hyung wanted to see you,” jisung explained while looking at his phone to see how far away the said boy was. “there he is!” he said and waved towards the idol. seungmin was left breathless when he saw hyunjin walked up to him and took his hand. “i’ll take him from here, thanks jisung.”

jisung nodded and walked off, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. probably one his way to his first class. he was still a college student after all.

seungmin then remembered that he and hyunjin were still holding hands. he tried to tug it out but hyunjin kept his grip strong. leaning down, hyunjin made sure that it looked like he was saying sweet things, but he actually whispered to seungmin, “stop trying to let go. it won’t make it believable. just go along with the flow.” as he pulled away, he made sure to drop a kiss on seungmin’s cheek. 

seungmin’s mouth dropped open and his hand flew up to wear he had been kissed. he was very tempted to punch hyunjin right then and there, but made sure to keep his emotions within him. he hugged the older to make it seem as if he was glad to see him after applying for classes. hyunjin laughed at seungmin’s actions, and his heart beat a little faster. 

the two decided to go to seungmin’s place so he could pack the things he wanted to take with him. “you don’t need to take any furniture with you. just clothes, your electronics, toiletries, and a pillow,” hyunjin had informed him as they stepped into seungmin’s apartment. the younger nodded and went to pack said things in a large duffel bag. hyunjin was left alone in th living room and he walked around the room, looking at the many pictures. 

he was quite impressed with the quality of the pictures, then remembered that seungmin was a photography student in the first place. he was surprised to see a picture of seungmin, a boy with light brown hair, big eyes, and a snaggletooth, and jisung’s boyfriend chenle. _seungmin and jisung must already have some connections then._

he turned back around when he heard seungmin clear his throat. “those are my friends, chenle and renjun.”

”oh, you mean jisung’s boyfriend?” 

“what?” seungmin looked quite confused. then everything clicked into place as he remembered chenle gushing over a ‘muscly and insanely good at dancing’ boyfriend. “tch, i’m gonna have a chat with chenle...” he mumbled. hyunjin laughed and put an arm over seungmin’s shoulders.

“let’s go!” hyunjin exclaimed and seungmin couldn’t help but smile at the older’s enthusiasm. 

***

seungmin halted in front of the large and expensive looking apartment building. he didn’t know if he really even deserved to live in the building, considering his sad life. hyunjin realized that seungmin was no longer following him, so he turned back around to join the boy. 

“what’s wrong?” hyunjin whispered into seungmin’s ear and the boy jumped. he gave hyunjin a dirty glare and ran inside the building. hyunjin laughed and ran after him. when he entered the building, he saw felix standing in front of seungmin, and the two seemed to be having a conversation. 

“hey, what’s up?” hyunjin questioned, putting a hand on seungmin’s shoulder, felix smiled at the two boys and held up his own duffel bag. 

“nah, just moving out right now. have fun you too!”

they waved at the australian boy and went on the elevator. seungmin had a mental breakdown when he realized hyunjin lived at the very top floor of the apartment and it would take about two minutes to reach it. also, there was elevator music. the atmosphere was extremely awkard and the two didn’t dare to talk.

when the elevator reached hyunjin’s level, the two stepped out and seungmin followed the older like a lost puppy. he gasped when hyunjin opened the door and revealed a huge and lavish apartment. hyunjin took the younger’s hand and led him to his bedroom. seungmin almost fainted when he saw how nice it was. 

“forget six months, make that six years!” seungmin exclaimed as he explored his bedroom. felix had left all the furniture but had removed his own decorations so seungmin could make himself feel at home. seungmin was about to jump on the queen sized bed when he saw a note taped to the lamp next to his bed. 

_make urself feel at home! feel free to add any decor or get rid of furniture, i won’t be back for a while. hav fun with the room! -felix_

“you want to stay here for six years?” hyunjin asked as he walked into seungmin’s room. he smiled when he saw seungmin rolling around the bed, wrapped up in a blanket burrito. to see seungmin’s reaction, he jumped onto the bed and grabbed seungmin in his arms, forcing him to stop rolling around. he unwrapped the blanket, then pinned the younger onto the bed by his wrists. seungmin was flushed a dark red and stared up at hyunjin.

”you want to stay here for six years?” hyunjin repeated. seungmin immediately snapped out of his trance and pushed hyunjin off, running out of the room. “nO!” he called back and hyunjin pouted, sitting up on the bed. 

“why not, babe?” 

“don’t call me ‘babe’!” hyunjin could hear how flustered seungmin was at the pet name. hyunjin walked out of the bedroom to find seungmin and continue to torment him, but stopped in his tracks when he heard soft singing. he followed the source of sound to the balcony and watched seungmin sing. 

for the first time, he felt his heart thump faster than he was used to. he realized just how beautiful the younger was. the setting sun was shining against seungmin’s face, making his dark red-brown hair color more vibrant, and his eyelashes casted a shadow over seungmin’s cheeks. his eyes glowed a chocolate brown and little sparks were shining in them. 

hyunjin decided to not disturb seungmin and walked back inside to prepare dinner. little did hyunjin know that seungmin had sensed hyunjin’s form and knew that hyunjin had been standing at the balcony entrance for at least ten minutes. to make it less awkward, he continued to sing but felt extremely nervous in front of an actual idol. 

it was after the sun had set and the sky was a light violet when hyunjin walked back to the balcony to see if seungmin was still there. sure enough, seungmin was laying curled up on the floor, deep into dreamland. hyunjin’s heart lurched at the adorable sight but knew that he had to wake him up. 

“babe, i know you’re tired but you need to eat. come on,” hyunjin whispered while lightly shaking seungmin. the boy woke up with groggy eyes and sleepily yelled at him for calling him ‘babe’. with the help of hyunjin, seungmin finally made it to the dinner table and sat down while rubbing his eyes in the cutest way possible. 

seungmin’s eyes opened wide when he saw the large variety of food. “you made all of this?” he asked, finally looking up at hyunjin. the said boy rubbed the back of his neck and responded, “well, it’s like a welcoming present i guess. chan and woojinah hyung came by to help a bit.”

seungmin let out a small “oh” and started to stuff his face. hyunjin laughed and took smaller portions, knowing that seungmin probbaly was not used to all this food. once seungmin was full, he leaned back in his chair and caressed his stomach. he looked up to see hyunjin still eating and was quite embarrassed. “sorry, i ate too much, didn’t i? i should really lose some weight-“ 

he was interrupted when hyunjin leaned over the table and pressed his finger against seungmin’s lips, shutting him up. his face was impossibly close to seungmin’s face and the younger couldn’t find the energy to move away. “sh, you are _not_ fat. you are _beautiful just the way you are._ and if you ever need someone i’ll always be here.”

seungmin felt tears well up in his eyes and he pushed hyunjin’s hand away. he stood up from the table and ran to his room, locking the door shut. hyunjin dropped back down to his chair and carded a hand through his air. he was trying to think exactly what he had said that made seungmin so upset.

after an hour of sitting on the couch and listening to seungmin’s sniffles, hyunjin stood up and lightly knocked on the door. “seungmin? can i come in?” 

to hyunjin’s surprise, seungmin opened the door, barefaced. hyunjin took one glance at seungmin’s poor state and gently cupped his cheeks. he leaned his forehead on the younger’s and the two breathed together. when the older felt a warm liquid drop onto his hand, he didn’t bother to pull away and blindly wiped away at seungmin’s tears. 

“do you want to tell me?” hyunjin quietly mumbled into seungmin’s hair. he felt seungmin shake his head in denial and he patted his back to show that it was alright. _take all the time you need, babe._

___

seungmin woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in weeks. he felt a warm weight over his waist and froze. he looked down and saw someone’s arm draped over his waist and the person’s hand was slightly bigger than his but was so pretty. seungmin took hyunjin’s hand in his and started to play with it. little did he know, hyunjin had woken up when seungmin took his hand and he silently smiled into seungmin’s back.

_after some silent but heartwarming “one on one” time, drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen with some soft Day6 playing, hyunjin had taken seungmin back into his room. just as he was about to leave, he decided against it and snuggled in with seungmin. the younger was against it at first, but soon grew to like the attention._

seungmin slowly slid out of bed and sat down on the rugged floor. he stood up and made his way to his large bathroom to start getting ready for the day ahead. in the middle of brushing his teeth, he giggled when he saw the messy-haired hyunjin walk in as well. 

he hugged seungmin from behind and the younger blushed. to distract himself, he grabbed hyunjin’s toothbrush and squeezed out some toothpaste from the tube. “here,” he whispered and handed the toothbrush to hyunjin. hyunjin took it gratefully and joined seungmin in brushing.

he followed the younger back in the room and sat on the bed while watching seungmin pick out his clothing from his duffel bag. _add unpacking to the list of things to do._ “what are we doing today?” hyunjin asked.

”unpack and maybe start on decorating my room?” seungmin called out from the ground. seungmin felt hyunjin leave the room but knew that the older was either going to change and come back in less than five minutes, or going to make some breakfast. finally, hyunjin came back in a fresh set of a sweatpants and a hoodie. seungmin marveled at how he could pull off a simple look like that so well. 

on the other hand, seungmin was wearing an oversized shirt that hung to mid-thigh with black basketball shorts. hyunjin sat down next to him and started to take out some clothes and fold them. the two looked like a married couple, just moving in to a new house. with seungmin’s permission, hyunjin decided to set up a time-lapse of the two unpacking seungmin’s items so they could give the fans of taste of their “relationship”. 

here and there in the video, hyunjin would leave to make them food, but for the next two hours, they were set on finishing unpacking. it was a hassle to do over a long period of time, so they wanted to finish it quickly. 

“done!” hyunjin yelled when they shoved in the last piece of clothing into felix’s old cabinet that he had left behind. “do you want to go out?” hyunjin called over his shoulder to the boy sitting on the bed. 

“oh! can we go decor shopping?” seungmin gasped. hyunjin laughed at the enthusiasm and ruffled seungmin’s hair. “we’ll be leaving in 30,” hyunjin said and walked out the door. seungmin got up with a little squeal. it had been forever since he went room shopping. it was always a fun hobby to redecorate boring rooms. 

he wanted to make himself look decent since he was now “dating” an idol, so he picked up his phone. at first, he hovered a thumb over jisung’s phone number, then pressed on it. his heart was racing as he heard the phone dialing. finally, jisung picked up with a cheery, “seungmiiiiiiiiin! is hyunjin treating you well?”

”ji! hyunjin’s been treating me well, don’t worry. um, i need some help with my outfit...” they switched to facetime, and soon, seungmin was looking like a whole meal. but a soft and fluffy one.

he was wearing light blue ripped jeans with small rips on his thighs and knees. he pulled on a white hoodie that had a small heart in the middle, then a thin, button up pastel blue shirt over it, leaving it unbuttoned. he lightly messed up his hair and pulled on his round glasses. pairing the outfit off with white adidas, he felt pretty confident with his look. 

he left his room at the same as hyunjin, and his mouth dropped when he saw the other’s outfit. it was the complete opposite of seungmin’s. 

he was wearing black jeans that had rips exposing an excessive amount of his toned legs. tucked into his pants was a redvelvet colored button up shirt with the top button not closed. seungmin practically choked when he saw that hyunjin was wearing a black beret but a choker with it as well. how in the hell could he look so innocent but sexy at the same time??

”you look nice,” hyunjin chuckled then took seungmin’s hand. he grabbed his wallet and phone before they left. “let’s go!” he exclaimed as he locked their apartment door. the walk to the small decor shop was just a bit awkward, but not as awkward as before. seungmin’s anxiety kicked up just a bit as he heard screaming fangirls when they saw the new couple in the streets. but hyunjin was there for him during the whole time. he made sure that he never let go seungmin’s hand. 

hyunjin felt quite out of place in the vintagey store, but seungmin seemed to know exactly what he was doing. he followed the younger around like a lost puppy as seungmin jumped around, throwing items into his cart. at one point, seungmin gave hyunjin a guilty look and started to put the items back, but hyunjin stopped and assured him that he could get anything he wanted. 

still a bit hesitant, seungmin only grabbed a few more items and then told hyunjin that he was ready to pay. hyunjin didn’t miss the particular longing look that seungmin gave to a very pretty black camera. without seungmin looking, hyunjin swiped the camera and gently set it down in the cart. he already felt bad for making seungmin give up a passion just for him, so he decided to pay him back with the camera. 

although seungmin was clearly shocked at the high price that came out of all the items bought, hyunjin was unfazed as his members had forced him to buy things even more pricey before. seungmin was even more startled when he found the camera, neatly wrapped in brown wrapping paper with a little bow made out of rope, sitting on the top of the pile of materials.

without thinking, seungmin jumped at hyunjin and wrapped his arms around his neck. hyunjin did not see it coming, but still caught him with a little “oof”. he smiled and hugged the boy back around his waist. “thank you thank you thank you so much,”  seungmin repeated. when seungmin pulled away, hyunjin planted a little kiss on seungmin’s lips and started to walk away. 

seungmin froze for a split second then started to run towards hyunjin screaming at the top of his lungs, “hwang hyunjin! i’m gonna beat your ass!” 

***

the two were sitting on the balcony, watching the sun set. it had been a few days since they had last gone shopping, and they were finished with seungmin’s very aestheticy room. seungmin was playing around with his new camera when he suddenly said, “i’m gonna be your biggest fansite.” hyunjin burst out in laughter. “what?”

seungmin turned to look at him and hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh again at seungmin’s serious expression. “i’m not kidding! after this whole fake-relationship is over, i’m gonna devote all my time to becoming your fansite.” hyunjin immediately stopped laughing when seungmin mentioned the whole scam. 

for some reason, he didn’t like the idea of seungmin leaving. sure, he liked felix’s company, but seungmin was different. it actually felt like he was living with a boyfriend and he liked it. he really really liked it. “then why don’t you just stay forever? that way, you could easily get photos of me, babe.” he then turned to look straight at the lens and he heard seungmin gasp. he took that the younger had gotten a good photo. 

“jinnie! that was such a good photo!” hyunjin’s heart hurt when he heard seungmin brush off what he had said. but seungmin had heard it loud and clear. his heart started racing and it just hurt. it hurt so much. so he pretended that he didn’t hear it and that instead, he had only been focusing on the photo. but the photo did turn out to be a very good photo. 

hyunjin looked at the camera screen and smiled at the photo. it was a nice photo indeed. hyunjin was naturally smiling, looking straight at the lens. his hair was being tossed by the gentle breeze. his loose hoodie was slipping off one shoulder, giving it a very casual i-don’t-care vibe. the painting of red, pink, purple, and orange accented his black hair. there was no editing whatsoever and hyunjin knew that this was easily his favorite photo yet.

“can you send me this one?” hyunjin asked, pointing to the photo. seungmin nodded and hyunjin walked inside, leaving the photographer outside by himself. when seungmin heard hyunjin’s door lock shut, he turned off the camera and buried his head in his knees. hyunjin’s words kept on replaying in his mind. 

_then why don’t you just stay forever? then why don’t you just stay forever? then why don’t you just stay forever?_

_“i wish i could...”_

***

for the first time, seungmin was going to his first class as a music composition major. he had literally no clue what they would be teaching and felt extremely nervous. he parted ways with hyunjin and jisung and waved goodbye as the two walked into the dance studio. now, he was standing at the door of his classroom all alone. with a deep breath, he pushed the door open and was met with a small class looking at him. in total, there were about seven kids plus a very young looking teacher. 

the teacher looked up from his computer and said, “kim seungmin?” seungmin nodded and hesitantly walked in when the teacher gave him a warm smile. “hi! my name kim is hanbin, you can just call me hanbin hyung! we have a pretty small class, so you’ll fit right in! everyone, this is seungmin. he moved from photography so please make him feel at home.”

seungmin quite literally choked on his spit when he saw chenle sitting at the back of the room, waving a hand around with a huge smile. “oh! so you already know chenle! you can just sit next to him!”

seungmin walked robotically up to where chenle was sitting and plopped down next to him. “why didn’t you tell me you were moving to music compo? and how’s your boyfriend? did you meet jisung yet? how-“ 

a peach haired boy turned around and hissed at them to be quiet. “whoops, sorry jaemin hyung,” chenle laughed and turned back to seungmin. “well?” 

seungmin rolled his eyes and ruffled chenle’s hair. “you don’t need to know, kiddo. it’s all good.” 

*** 

“jisungieeeeee!” chenle screeched and threw himself at jisung. jisung saw it coming and immediately caught him, spinning the older around. 

“how in the world did i never realize that jisung was chenle’s boyfriend of two years?” seungmin wondered out loud. 

“i don’t know, how did you?” hyunjin whispered, creeping up from behind him. “gah!” seungmin yelled out and accidentally slapped hyunjin in the face. 

seungmin then realized who it was and rushed to cradle hyunjin’s cheek in his hands. “oh shit, i did not mean to!” he didn’t notice that the whole hall became silent and were staring at the two boys. hyunjin gently took seungmin’s hand then raised his voice, “it’s okay seungmin, i know it was an accident. i love you!”

the whole hall erupted into screams but seungmin’s eyes filled with tears. and they were not happy tears. hyunjin was too busy smiling and laughing at everyone’s reaction and never realized that seungmin was wiping away at his tears. but chenle saw. he reached out and took seungmin’s hand. hyunjin saw and asked, “what are you doing?”

chenle forced a smile and replied, “i’m just taking him to see something! i’ll text jisung when i’m bring him back!” without saying anything else, chenle led seungmin away from all the chaos. they walked into an empty classroom and chenle made sure the door was locked. he sat the older down, then asked, “are you okay?”

seungmin didn’t start to cry, but he dropped his head against chenle’s shoulder. “he played with me. he told me that he loved me but it was all a joke. he just did it for the fun of it and to please everyone else.” chenle nodded and stroked seungmin’s hair, comfortingly. 

“it’s okay. he’s a dick. a real one,” chenle muttered. seungmin giggled at the younger but didn’t say anything else. “let’s go somewhere fun today. i feel like you haven’t been able to be free. also, i’ve been craving some good quality photos, and jisung takes some shitty ones.” 

and that is how seungmin found himself on his way to an ice skating rink. 

hyunjin knew that he had messed up when chenle walked away with seungmin. seungmin would never just willingly walk away with someone, even if it was a best friend. or would he? hyunjin waited until the chaos was over, then made his way to the agency’s dance studio where he knew felix would be. it was time for some counseling with felix.

once jisung made sure that hyunjin was alright by himself, he left to go study at the local library. “bitch, i’ve arrived!” hyunjin exclaimed, throwing the door open. felix and minho looked up to meet eyes with hyunjin. hyunjin realized that minho was also there, so he immediately bowed to him and apologized. after requesting for only felix to be in the room, minho left with a sigh. 

hyunjin watched him leave then whispered to felix, “you think he’s gonna be mad at me?” 

felix whispered back, “i don’t think so. but you better watch your back.”

“why are we whispering?”

”i don’t know.”

hyunjin smacked felix on the back of his head, then plopped down next to him. hyunjin stared at felix’s freckles and tried to count them. it wasn’t odd for him to do this, the two were very intimate. for a while, they were in a secret relationship but ruled out that it was only brotherly affection. albeit the relationship being over, the two were best friends and the go-to when something wasn’t right. 

felix snuggled up against the taller and wrapped his arms around his waist. he dropped his sweaty head onto hyunjin’s lap and he gently carded his hand through the aussie’s hair. “what’s troubling you, jinnie,” felix asked quietly. hyunjin wasn’t even surprised anymore that felix immediately knew when something wrong. 

hyunjin said only a few words, but felix still got the message. “i want seungmin to stay.”

”oh jinnie,” felix said and took the shaking hyunjin in his arms. 

hyunjin wasn’t shaking because of crying, but rather, in fear. “lix, i’ve never been so happy with someone before. it’s only been five days, and yet, it’s like my whole life was changed. when he leaves, it won’t be the same. i don’t want him to leave. i want him to stay.” he confessed. 

“do you love him?” 

“what?”

felix repeated his question. 

“i-i don’t know.” hyunjin shakily said. “what if i do actually love him, lix?” felix decided not to answer and stayed silent. it was in cases like this that he knew he couldn’t help hyunjin. now, if he was in love with one of the members then he would’ve been able to give advice. but since it was non-idol, it was much more harder. 

after a few more minutes of comforting silence, the two stood up and felix turned on a random song. in no time, hyunjin was lost in the world of dancing, his movements taking over his body. in the middle of their practice, (han) jisung sneaked seungmin into the dance studio and the two plopped down on the floor. 

seungmin had seen hyunjin perform on tv, but not right in front of him. he was amazed by just how good he was and how his fluid, graceful motions contrasted against felix’s sharp and exact ones. they were dancing the same dance but in their own styles. 

“they’re good, aren’t they? when minho hyung joins in, they’re like the holy trinity,” jisung whispered into seungmin’s ear, and seungmin made the mistake of giggling loudly, catching the attention of the two dancers. hyunjin’s eyes widened and he quickly pushed back his sweaty hair. seungmin’s breath caught at this sudden action and he broke eye contact with the older. 

“how long have you guys been here?” felix panted, letting the music still play. 

“eh, about 30 minutes?” jisung answered. he stood up and started to stretch out his limbs. 

“wHat? 30 minutes? how? ji, you’re usually so loud,” hyunjin exclaimed. jisung sent him a sly wink and a kiss, which hyunjin rejected with a flick. he blinked rapidly when he realized that he had sent the kiss towards seungmin. luckily, seungmin was too involved with a conversation with felix that he didn’t see anything. 

seungmin turned around when he felt hyunjin’s stare. hyunjin saw many emotions flash through seungmin’s eyes until it landed on one. it was quite a complicated one, as if it was all seungmin’s emotions smushed together. he could sense happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and... love? 

seungmin gave him a small smile which hyunjin returned. “do you wanna try dancing with us?” hyunjin offered. seungmin’s smile faltered and he stammered out, “i-i can’t dance. at all. like, i look like a duck.” 

hyunjin scoffed and skipped over,, taking the photographer’s hand. “i bet you look fine.” and you betcha hyunjin was correct. the three idols were blown away at seungmin’s dancing abilities. although he had a few mistakes and was still somewhat clumsy, he definitely did not look like a beginner. 

as the two boys were walking back to the apartment, hyunjin blurted out, “i didn’t think you would be that good at dancing! you looked like an actual idol!” seungmin rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. 

“i took modern dance for two years when i was in middle school. but then i moved with my older brother so i had to quit.” seungmin explained. hyunjin nodded and casually took seungmin’s hand in his bigger ones. it became a very natural thing for them to do by this point. 

hugging and kissing were still very awkard as they had only had done it for a total of four times, but they held hands at least five times per day. another thing seungmin was getting used to was finding hyunjin spooning him in the very early mornings. it gave him a very comforting feeling. 

hyunjin unlocked the door of their apartment and turned on all the lights while seungmin made his way to the kitchen to prepare them dinner. “you can go take a shower first!” seungmin called over his shoulder. the pet name _love_  lingered at the tip of his tongue. he was so tempted to call hyunjin that but always chickened out in the last minute. 

“thanks babe!” hyunjin said before locking the door of the bathroom. seungmin sighed and slouched over when he heard the shower turn on. he found it harder and harder to hide his feelings. it had only been two weeks and it was already so difficult. how much harder could it even get?

___

**four months later**

“love! over here!”

hyunjin snapped his head up from his book when he heard the familiar voice. his face broke out into a huge grin when he saw seungmin waving from across the park, sitting on the opposite bench. it had been four months since the scandal had broken out and although they were still a hot topic to talk about, the whole shebang of it had died down. not so many people stopped in the streets to stare at them and there were only the usual paparazzi storming them. 

after about three months of “dating”, seungmin was invited to one of Stray Kids’ events as a special guest. he had performed a little duet with hyunjin and taken it upon himself to plant a little kiss on hyunjin’s nose at the end of the gig. the fans had gone crazy and so had hyunjin’s heart. 

hyunjin had finally accepted the fact that he was very much in love with the younger boy, but couldn’t tell him. it would just mess up everything. this was never meant to happen. they were supposed to only pretend to date for six months, and on the contract it clearly said **NO FALLING IN LOVE**. what would he tell his manager? the only person who knew about his feelings was felix. 

hyunjin didn’t know when it exactly started, but seungmin no longer protested on being called ‘babe’, and started to call hyunjin ‘love’. it was now a habit of theirs that would never die. 

on a warm, may afternoon, hyunjin left the apartment to take a walk and enjoy the weather. he took the time to clear out his mind and just relax. after a while, seungmin went out as well to find him and when he saw hyunjin sitting on a bench, he sat down on a bench 15 feet across from him.

he took the opportunity to click a few pictures, but eventually called out to get his attention. he and hyunjin made eye contact, and soon enough, hyunjin was jogging over to where seungmin. “when did you come out, babe?” 

“eh like 10 minutes ago. i just came to find you,” seungmin responded absentmindedly while intertwining their hands and playing with the older’s fingers. hyunjin let out a content sigh and leaned back. they watched the sunset and it brought back some memories. 

“i remember when you just moved in and was testing out that camera of yours,” hyunjin said. seungmin hummed in response, clearly remembering the night. he remembered that hyunjin had said-

“and i said, ‘why don’t you just stay here forever?’ now thinking it about four months later, i still mean it. i really do. i want you to stay here with me. i don’t know if it’s romantic or platonic, but you bring me so much happiness. we only have one more month left. let’s make it count.” 

seungmin felt himself tearing up and turned his head so hyunjin wouldn’t look at him. he had only cried once and that was when he had first moved in. ever since then, he hadn’t cried at all. hyunjin got the hint that seungmin needed some time to think so he pulled the younger with him and led him home. 

the moment they entered the apartment, they fell into their normal routine. hyunjin would unlock the door and turn on all the lights. seungmin would lock the door and head to the kitchen to make some food. hyunjin would take a quick shower and join seungmin for the meal. afterwards, seungmin would take a shower. usually hyunjin would then head to the agency to practice while seungmin stayed home alone, studying. 

however, there were also many days in which hyunjin would stay home and pester seungmin for cuddles. eventually seungmin would give in and for the next few hours, they would watch tv, cuddling. but everyday, seungmin and hyunjin would find a time in the dead of night to sit on the balcony and sing a song or two while seungmin strummed his guitar. 

but tonight, that didn’t happen. seungmin made hyunjin food but he didn’t hear the shower turning on. he sat at the dinner table for an hour but hyunjin never came out. so he packed the food in foil and slipped it into the fridge with a little sticky note saying “dinner for love”. after taking his own shower, he knocked on hyunjin’s door, but he didn’t answer the door. when he opened it, he was startled to see hyunjin was not there. he decided not to say anything and went on to study in his room. 

it was half past 11 pm, and still, no hyunjin. he took his guitar and sat on the balcony, singing alone into the chilly night. he didn’t realize that he was slipping into sad songs until he felt a tear slip down his cheek. he wiped the hot liquid away with a sniffle. right then, he heard the door beep and slowly open. 

his heart soared and he hurriedly ran inside and set his guitar down. “love, where have you-“

now, instead of soaring, his heart dropped. in front of him was hyunjin, pressing a girl against a wall and making out with her.  

“hwang hyunjin!” seungmin screamed. hyunjin realized then that he was not alone in this household. he pulled away from the girl in lightning speed and with wide eyes, they stared at the crying boy. seungmin was trying so hard to stop crying but he couldn’t. it kept on coming and coming. 

finally, seungmin collected himself and managed a shaky smile, but his next words did not match his smiling expression. 

“forget me, forget you, forget everything. i wasn’t meant to be here in the first place. you won’t see me anymore.” 

with that, seungmin pushed past the two and ran out the door slamming it on his way out. 

***

”fuck!” hyunjin exclaimed, sitting up in his bed at 7 am. he shook the girl next to him awake and begged, “you cannot tell anyone about this. understood? no one! it was a mistake, i’m sorry. y-you can take a shower if you want-“

”stop. it’s okay. i’ll leave. and don’t worry, i won’t tell anyone. heh, i just had a big fight with my girlfriend and i just don’t know if i’ll be able to get back together with her and i really love her and gosh! i just had to get my mind off of it. i don’t know what’s gonna happen,” the girl rambled. she was now sober and seemed to be having a mental breakdown. 

“hey, it’s ok,” hyunjin reassured her and set a comforting hand on her bare shoulder. he had gotten her name from last night, what was it? shula? shuhua? something like that. 

shuhua lifted her head and gave him a small smile. “i’ll be going now. i’m really really sorry for doing that with you tonight. i hope for the best that you and your boyfriend will get back together.” 

hyunjin stilled at the word “boyfriend”. he was so used to saying that seungmin was his boyfriend that it seemed so natural to him to call the younger his. but after last night, he wasn’t so sure about it. he nodded at shuhua and said, “you too. i hope you and your girlfriend can solve your problems.”

he leaned back in his bed and watched as shuhua pulled on her shirt and skirt as she was already wearing her undergarments. he let out a sigh when he heard her close the front door. after staying in bed for another solid 45 minutes, hyunjin decided to get out of bed. the first place he targeted was the bathroom to take a nice shower. 

after showering, he went to go make himself breakfast. when he opened up the fridge, his eyes watered when he saw the food made from last night. it was nightly wrapped in foil with a little note.

_dinner for love. make sure to eat this when you wake up! if you still want more, breakfast is on the kitchen table. just heat it up for a minute and you’ll be good!_

hyunjin hastily wiped a tear and pulled out the food. he didn’t know when seungmin even wrote the note but it left him feeling even emptier. after eating, he passed by the front entrance while vacuuming and saw another note stuck on it. this time, it was from shuhua. 

_hyunjin,_

_if u ever wanna talk, this is my ig: @shuhuayehhh__

_stay healthy!_

hyunjin chuckled at the note and pulled out his phone. his heart dropped a little when no messages or calls were left from seungmin, he plowed through his sadness and opened up instagram. of course, the first picture that popped up on his feed was from seungmin’s account. the photo was from two weeks ago when seungmin and hyunjin were out on an ice cream date.  the photo was taken by hyunjin which made it especially special for seungmin and he decided to post it. 

he was shocked that seungmin hadn’t blocked him yet, but seungmin might’ve deleted the app before he could do anything. hyunjin entered shuhua’s username into the search bar and he eagerly clicked on her account. he chuckled again when he saw that basically all of shuhua’s posts were of either her girlfriend or the two of them together. 

he made sure he followed her and exited out of the app. his phone wallpaper was, of course, seungmin and he stared at it for a few seconds before he decided to look into seungmin’s room. he slowly opened the door and saw that the only thing different about seungmin’s room was that the bed was made and the clothes were neatly put back in the drawers. other than that, nothing changed. 

all of seungmin’s homework papers and textbooks were still laying all over his desk. the small camera that hyunjin had given him in the very beginning was sitting in its usually place. _seungmin must’ve come in earlier to fix things up._

not wanting to disturb anything in the treasured room, he closed the door and threw on a mask and a cap. he decided to go to the agency and have a talk with the manager. 

***

”you’re telling me what?? we have to end the relationship early?! he left?!” 

hyunjin flinched at the manger’s yelling and knew that he messed up. “yes, please end it. we only had a month left until the contract is over so can’t we end it early? plus, it’s normal for idol relationships to last about five months.”

the manager let out a frustrated sigh and out his head in his hands. after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the manager said, “fine. we can end it. now get out of my sight.” hyunjin immediately stood up and quickly bowed to him, making sure that it was 180 degrees. he had deep respect for his manager. 

he ran out of the room but bumped into jisung (han) on his way to the dance studio. jisung grabbed hyunjin by the collar nad pressed him up against the wall. “what the _hell_ did you do to seungmin. what nonsense did you do now?” he screamed into hyunjin’s face. 

hyunjin pushed jisung away and sneered at him. “tch, why are you making it seem like i’m always the bad guy. it was seungmin’s choice to leave. i can’t do anything to change that.”

”you little bitch!” jisung screeched and threw himself at hyunjin. just in the nick of time, minho and felix passed by to see the fight. right away, minho pulled jisung back and felix pushed hyunjin back to shield him. 

“stop! ji, please stop!” minho pleaded and jisung slowly started to relax in his arms. he turned his back against hyunjin and hid his face in minho’s chest. minho sent a questioning look to the two dancers. felix nodded and led the shaking hyunjin away from the the fight. minho did the same. 

***

hyunjin and felix were sitting against the glass wall of their dance studio. “wow, i just keep on messing up. first i screwed up with seungmin and now i screwed up with jisung. probably minho too since he adores jisung.” hyunjin’s voice echoed in the empty studio.

”you want to talk about it?” felix asked and tilted his head to look up at the taller. hyunjin shook his and felix accepted it. he needed time, he completely understood that. “now the contract is over, are you going to have to release a statement as well?”

”most likely, yeah. not seungmin though since he’s not an idol. he’s more protected from the public and doesn’t need to share his own thoughts.” 

felix nodded again and offered a hand to hyunjin. “let’s dance.”

after a difficult day of training, hyunjin stepped out into the chilly night and pulled up his mask. his phone dinged and he pulled it out to see an update from the news. 

**[BREAKING NEWS! NATION’S BELOVED COUPLE BREAKUP!]**

_On monday, May 21, 2019, JYP Entertainment let out a statement saying that rising star, Hwang Hyunjin and his boyfriend, Kim Seungmin have decided to part ways._

_Hwang Hyunjin is part of the young boy group Stray Kids, consisting of eight members whose ages range from 18 to 22. Kim Seungmin is a photography and music composition student at Seoul University. The two started dating after Hwang met Kim, who at the time, was working at a cafe. They officially revealed their relationship on January 16, 2019._

_Hwang and Kim have yet to release their own statements on the breakup. For now it is believed that they have split up on good terms and are respectively going back to their daily lives. Many people say that they have witnessed Kim recently leave the apartment at around 7:30 PM with his belongings. However, Hwang was not present. This has stirred up some confusion , but Hwang was most likely too busy with his idol life to help for the last time._

_It is known for a fact that Kim used to study photography and switched to music composition once he started dating Hwang, but it is still unclear if Kim will return to photography or stick with his current major._

_We only hope for the best for the two boys!_

_See more:_

**[KIM WOOBIN SPOTTED OUT IN PUBLIC AFTER A LONG BATTLE OF ILLNESS]**

hyunjin’s blood ran cold when he read that seungmin had visited the apartment once again after he had left. he quickly checked the time and swore when he saw that it was was now 10:30 pm. running as fast as he could, he could see the eyes of late night people turning to stare at him, but he didn’t care. 

he dashed towards the elevator in his apartment lobby and thanked the gods when it opened only seconds after pressing the button. once it reached his floor, hyunjin threw the door open and made a beeline to seungmin’s room. his heart fell when he opened seungmin’s door and nothing was left. all of seungmin’s items were gone. 

all of the decorations that the two had so diligently picked out together, all of seungmin’s adorable clothes that were always a size too big, his guitar that the younger would play late at night, the fairy lights that illuminated seungmin’s face in the most beautiful way, the textbooks that made seungmin so stressed. 

as hyunjin scanned the room his eyes landed on the cleared desk. there was a neat pile of clothes and... the camera. with shaking hands, he picked up the sticky note placed on the pile of clothes.

_love! here are all of your clothes that i stole at one point haha! i returned everything except a hoodie. i’m never giving it back to you >:D i also left you the camera for you to make some more memories on your own. not a single picture was deleted. everything is still there_

hyunjin felt a tear drip down his cheek, but he wiped it away to go find some comfort food. when he opened up the food cabinet, he was shocked to see that it was stocked with food. he opened everyone of his cabinets and saw that it was filled to the brim with snacks, instant food, and different ingredients and sauces. when he checked his fridge, every inch of it was covered with cold foods and drinks. 

another note was stuck onto a bottle of water, and he grabbed it. 

_love, i did a little bit of shopping for you, just in case. this food will last you for a long time so don’t waste your money getting takeout! i wrote some recipes down; they should be on your bed_

without further ado, hyunjin ran to his room and slammed the door open. a blue folder laid on his bed. it was labeled, “for love”. he flipped through it and saw at least 30 recipes handwritten by the photographer. he collapsed onto his bed and realized just how empty it was without seungmin. 

***

it took him a lot of courage, but hyunjin finally decided to upload his own statement on his social medias. in no way did he expose what he had done and hoped for the best that seungmin wouldn’t either. soon, he was being flooded by messages and comments from his fans. 

he doublechecked his statement and was quite satisfied.

_hello my dear stays,_

_seungmin and i have decided to part ways. we didn’t fight or have one of us cheat on each other, but rather, decided that we were spending too much time away from each other. i was far too busy with my idoling schedule and seungmin wanted to go back to being a photography major. we respect both sides and are still close friends. you never know, we might get back with each other in the future, but we can’t do this right now. it won’t work. but i do know something for a fact. i love him. i still love him very much. i don’t know if i’m in love or just love him platonically, but my adoration is so very real and will never die. i only hope for the best for him._

_thank you!_

_hwang hyunjin_

soon, he was being flooded with hundreds of messages and comments from his fans. he ignored all of them and shut off his phone. maybe it was time to take a break from social media. 

***

the first thing hyunjin did when he woke up the next morning was make himself a nice breakfast. following one of seungmin’s recipes, he made a delicious omelet and cinnamon toast, devouring it in only five minutes. he tried to make himself look presentable. he needed to know if seungmin was still in town. 

he was shocked when he got the news from peers around him that seungmin had withdrawn from Seoul University and moved to another school. he knew that it was because of him. if he was seungmin, he would’ve done it too. it would be too awkward to see each other. 

after finding out that seungmin had moved, he made the decision to respect his privacy. he would no longer pry into seungmin’s business. but he couldn’t contain his excitement when he refreshed his page and saw that seungmin had uploaded  on instagram. 

it was a simple picture that held so much emotion. it was the silhouette of seungmin against a starry night. he was looking up and the faintest light shine one the side of his face. the caption was merely a few words. 

_love u. miss u. see u._

hyunjin’s heart beat a little faster and he stared at the photo. comments were flooding in, all  asking if the caption was about hyunjin, is seungmin alright, are the two still friends. then seungmin uploaded on his instagram story. “taking a little break from social medias. if you need to reach me for business inquires, here’s my email...” hyunjin read aloud. 

“he’s really disappearing from the public, huh,” hyunjin mumble to himself. he was brought back to reality when he heard a loud shout from ahead of him. he smiled to himself when he saw that chenle was the one who screamed because jisung had sprayed him with water. hyunjin wished that that was him and seungmin.

***

when hyunjin came home in the dead of night, he contemplated on trying to contact seungmin. with shaking hands, he sent a simple “hey” but was immediately rejected. on his screen a message appeared, saying, “you can not contact this person. **learn more** ”. 

hyunjin’s anger got the best of him and he threw his phone across the bed. “he blocked me! god, you stupid hyunjin why did you have to go and fuck everything up?” he yelled to no one in particular. he threw his pillows around the room, kicking random items that were in his sight. when he could channel no more energy, he fell asleep on the pillow-covered room. 

hyunjin was woken up the next morning by a deep voice saying, “whoa.” groggily, he sat up and sighed when he inspected his messy room with a shook felix in the middle of it all. “you good bro?” felix asked, concerned. 

hyunjin nodded and grabbed the pillows, putting them back in place. he quickly washed up with felix sitting on the toilet, watching him the whole entire time. wordlessly, the two boys walked to the agency and went on with their daily lives. 

___

**2 years later**

“kyaaahhhhh oh my gosh it’s Stray Kids!”

”move fuck move! i want to see them!”

”omg they’re so handsome!”

hyunjin was bombarded with the fans as he was trying to walk in step with chan in the airport. their fan base seemed to grow bigger and bigger by the day. he grabbed chan’s arms for guidance and the leader shot him a comforting smile. they had just finished up thier second world tour and they were exhausted. they last thing they wanted to deal with was more fans. 

“we’re almost to the van, hold it in,” hyunjin heard jisung hiss into his ear. it took them a long time to finally mend their friendship, to the point where jisung had to take a break from activities for two months. in the span of the two months, the two boys had gone through therapy sessions together. eventually jisung forgave hyunjin and vice versa. although their friendship wasn’t as strong as before, it was better than nothing. 

hyunjin gave jisung a wary nod and the younger put a firm hand on his shoulder, guiding him. when hyunjin saw the van waiting for them, it took all of his will power to control himself from dropping all of his bags and running towards it. just as he put a foot in the van, he heard a voice call out.

”love! look over here! i want to see that beautiful face of yours!”

hyunjin froze and he heard minho grumble behind him. maybe it was just him imagining things? yeah, probably. he was so tired anyway. as he sat down, he felt his heart and it was racing so fast. he had literally just heard the voice of his lost love, seungmin. 

when hyunjin stepped into his apartment, he took a moment to scan his home. everything was the same from when seungmin was there. felix had decided to stay with changbin, leaving hyunjin alone for the next two years. although he would never to complain to his best friend, it was lonely. it felt so empty to not have the comfort of another 24/7. seungmin could’ve given him that comfort. 

the thought of seungmin reminded him of what had happened earlier in the day. he took out his phone and scrolled all the way down to the bottom of his many messages. the last text he had sent from two years was still there. when he opened their conversation, he was still expecting it to be blocked, but almost choked on his spit when he saw that it had gone through. 

he checked the date and saw that it had been sent from over a year and a half ago. “oh my god, when the hell did seungmin unblock me?” hyunjin muttered to himself while leaning against his hand in stress. as if his phone could read his mind, he received a notification from instagram. 

_your friend @seungminnie just posted in a long time! give them a like!_

without thinking, hyunjin clicked on the notification and it took him to instagram. lo and behold, a picture was posted on the younger’s account for the first time in two years. it was a picture of seungmin with a camera up to his face, as if he was taking a photo of the people who were looking at his post. he no longer had red hair but the classic dark brown hair. however, he had tiny little streaks of gold in it here and there. 

the caption was still simple as ever. 

_getting back into it_

at first, hyunjin hesitated to give the post any attention, but finally liked it and left a comment. _“nice to see that ur back :)”_

the next morning, the group had no rest. with their new comeback, they had a demanding schedule. on their way to music bank, hyunjin opened his instagram to see that his one comment had received so much attention. it had over a thousand comments and likes. his breath hitched when he saw that although seungmin had not responded to the comment, he had liked it.

”hyunjin! come one!” he shoved his phone in his pocket and mumbled an apology to woojin who was holding the door for him. he sighed when his face was shoved by cameras and he trudged through the crowd. but then he heard the voice. it was so warm and comforting and so so familiar.

”love! you’re doing great! look ove here!” this time, hyunjin knew that it wasn’t his imagination. he whipped his towards the source of the sound and fans screamed, thinking that hyunjin was trying to look at them. but he wasn’t. he was trying to find the boy that he had hurt so badly two years ago. 

when he couldn’t find seungmin, hyunjin started to panic and scold himself for being so foolish, thinking that it was all his imagination. then he saw him. in the middle of the whole wave of fans, there was seungmin. 

half of his face was covered with a mask but hyunjin knew those smiling eyes anywhere. his heart raced when seungmin pulled down his mask and lowered his camera. he was smiling the brightest smile in the world; it was like looking at the sun. 

hyunjin didn’t care what the others thought about him and he ran. he gently pushed past the fans and ran towards seungmin. when he reached the younger, hyunjin engulfed him in an embrace and seungmin wrapped his arms around the taller. over the screaming of the fans, seungmin’s laugh was so clear. he didn’t want to let go. 

finally, seungmin pulled, but kept his arms around hyunjin’s neck. “i told you i would become your biggest fansite!” he exclaimed, grinning. hyunjin rolled his eyes at the playful behavior, but he missed it. he missed it so much. so he let his emotions take over.

he captured seungmin’s lips with his own and he heard the cameras click away but he didn’t care. after a solid five seconds, he leaned his forehead against seungmin’s. “i’m sorry. i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry. i love you,” he whispered. 

“i know, love, i know. and it’s okay. i love you too. i love you a lot,” seungmin said and brushed hyunjin’s hair out of his eyes in a loving manner. “i don’t intend on leaving anytime soon,” seungmin told him with a happy smile.

”you better not,” hyunjin responded and the two laughed. and at that moment, hyunjin was just glad that he had gone to Topped Off late that january night and gotten seungmin’s phone number. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> so
> 
> i was supposed to finish them in THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY BUT HEY GUESS WHAT THATS OKAY  
> i procrastinated way too much whoops and it didn’t turn out the way i expected. i just kept on writing and it got too out of hand  
> um don’t expect an update on skz the last 10 bc i was so focused on this story i haven’t started the next chapter for it yet yay. 
> 
> i hope u enjoyed the little series and it wAS SO MESSY BY THE END CAUSE I WSA SO TIRED BUT HEY I FINISHED IT
> 
> if u want to talk, hmu on ig: @ckimmy__ (two underscores)


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